Parashat Yitro – “Wings of Eagles” Chapter 19:4 שְׁמוֹת

ד  אַתֶּם רְאִיתֶם, אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי לְמִצְרָיִם; וָאֶשָּׂא אֶתְכֶם עַל-כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים, וָאָבִא אֶתְכֶם אֵלָי.

4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Me.

In this week’s parasha, Yitro, we read HaShem’s unusual words that Moshe relays to the Israelites:
“You all have seen that which I did to Egypt and that I carried you all on the wings of eagles and brought you all to me.” 

This line presents a problem. Many miraculous deeds are enumerated during the Exodus saga… the plagues…the splitting of the Red Sea…. Yet nowhere in the text is there an episode of eagles lifting the weary Israelites out of Egypt! And yet Moshe said “You all have seen it!”.

One of our greatest philosophers and rabbis of the last 2000 years was Maimonides (Rambam). He believed in the divinity of the Torah and that primarily, its contents are true and correct. He taught however that there are many verses in the Torah, such as this one, that appear just too whimsical or fanciful: There is NO WAY a 15 pound eagle could carry even one human being let alone 600,000!!!

Rambam explains this proves that sometimes a directive in the Torah is NOT to be taken literally. It may be a  parable, an allegory, or metaphorical.

The Rabbis throughout the millennia for example all agree that HaShem never literally mean that if a person blinds another person, his eye should also be blinded (“An eye for an eye”שמות מישפטים 21:24).

What do I learn from the “wings of eagles’ allegorical reference? Ever notice throughout history how many civilizations use the symbol of an eagle to represent liberty and freedom and self-empowerment?! Even the United States!

Ever notice how many cultures use the representation of a bird in flight as the ultimate portrayal of freedom and liberty?!  In poems, music, art…

Remember that 1976 hit song “I wanna fly like an eagle, to the sea. Fly like an eagle, let my spirit carry me” (The Steve Miller Band).

The message we should learn from this is that the Torah is supposed to be a source of learning and enlightenment. We should look at the symbols of each difficult parable and learn how to live life in a holier and more divine fashion. As Jackie Wilson sang in his number one hit in 1967, your love keeps lifting me… lifting me higher and higher”.

May we too be lifted upon the wings of HaShem’s eagles, and may we rise higher and higher… in knowledge, wisdom, understanding and health, Amen!

I love you all,

By Rabbi Eliot H. Pearlson – Temple Menorah, Miami Beach.